Ribosomes are composed of one large and one small subunit containing three or four RNA molecules and over fifty proteins. The part of the ribosome that is directly involved in protein synthesis is the ribosomal RNA (rRNA). The ribosomal proteins are responsible for folding the rRNAs into their correct three-dimensional structures. Ribosomes and the protein synthesis process are very similar in all organisms. One difference between bacteria and other organisms, however, is the way that ribosomes recognize mRNA molecules that are ready to be translated. In bacteria, this process involves a base-pairing interaction between several nucleotides near the beginning of the mRNA and an equal number of nucleotides at the end of the ribosomal RNA molecule in the small subunit. The mRNA sequence is known as the Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence and its counterpart on the rRNA is called the Anti-Shine-Dalgarno (ASD) sequence.
There is now extensive biochemical, genetic and phylogenetic evidence indicating that rRNA is directly involved in virtually every aspect of ribosome function (Garrett, R. A., et al. (2000) The Ribosome: Structure, Function, Antibiotics, and Cellular Interactions. ASM Press, Washington, D.C.). Genetic and functional analyses of rRNA mutations in E. coli and most other organisms have been complicated by the presence of multiple rRNA genes and by the occurrence of dominant lethal rRNA mutations. Because there are seven rRNA operons in E. coli, the phenotypic expression of rRNA mutations may be affected by the relative amounts of mutant and wild-type ribosomes in the cell. Thus, detection of mutant phenotypes can be hindered by the presence of wild-type ribosomes. A variety of approaches have been designed to circumvent these problems.
One common approach uses cloned copies of a wild-type rRNA operon (Brosius, J., et al. (1981) Plasmid 6: 112–118; Sigmund, C. D. et al. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79: 5602–5606). Several groups have used this system to detect phenotypic differences caused by a high level of expression of mutant ribosomes. Recently, a strain of E. coli was constructed in which the only supply of ribosomal RNA was plasmid encoded (Asai, T., (1999) J. Bacteriol. 181: 3803–3809). This system has been used to study transcriptional regulation of rRNA synthesis, as well as ribosomal RNA function (Voulgaris, J., et al. (1999) J. Bacteriol. 181: 4170–4175; Koosha, H., et al. (2000) RNA. 6: 1166–1173; Sergiev, P. V., et al. (2000) J. Mol. Biol. 299: 379–389; O'Connor, M. et al. (2001) Nucl. Acids Res. 29: 1420–1425; O'Connor, M., et al. (2001) Nucl. Acids Res. 29: 710–715; Vila-Sanjurjo, A. et al. (2001) J. Mol. Biol. 308: 457–463); Morosyuk S. V., et al. (2000) J. Mol. Biol. 300 (1):113–126; Morosyuk S. V., et al. (2001) J. Mol. Biol. 307 (1):197–210; and Morosyuk S. V., et al. (2001) J. Mol. Biol. 307 (1):211–228. Hui et al. showed that mRNA could be directed to a specific subset of plasmid-encoded ribosomes by altering the message binding site (MBS) of the ribosome while at the same time altering the ribosome binding site (RBS) of an mRNA (Hui, A., et al. (1987) Methods Enzymol. 153: 432–452).
Although each of the above methods has contributed significantly to the understanding of rRNA function, progress in this field has been hampered both by the complexity of translation and by difficulty in applying standard genetic selection techniques to these systems.
Resistance to antibiotics, a matter of growing concern, is caused partly by antibiotic overuse. According to a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001, between 1989 to 1999 American adults made some 6.7 million visits a year to the doctor for sore throat. In 73% of those visits, the study found, the patient was treated with antibiotics, though only 5%–17% of sore throats are caused by bacterial infections, the only kind that respond to antibiotics. Macrolide antibiotics in particular are becoming extremely popular for treatment of upper respiratory infections, in part because of their typically short, convenient course of treatment. Research has linked such vast use to a rise in resistant bacteria and the recent development of multiple drug resistance has underscored the need for antibiotics which are highly specific and refractory to the development of drug resistance.
Microorganisms can be resistant to antibiotics by four mechanisms. First, resistance can occur by reducing the amount of antibiotic that accumulates in the cell. Cells can accomplish this by either reducing the uptake of the antibiotic into the cell or by pumping the antibiotic out of the cell. Uptake mediated resistance often occurs, because a particular organism does not have the antibiotic transport protein on the cell surface or occasionally when the constituents of the membrane are mutated in a way that interferes with transport of the antibiotic into a cell. Uptake mediated resistance is only possible in instances where the drug gains entry through a nonessential transport molecule. Efflux mechanisms of antibiotic resistance occur via transporter proteins. These can be highly specific transporters that transport a particular antibiotic, such as tetracycline, out of the cell or they can be more general transporters that transport groups of molecules with similar characteristics out of the cell. The most notorious example of a nonspecific transporter is the multidrug resistance transporter (MDR).
Inactivating the antibiotic is another mechanism by which microorganisms can become resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic inactivation is accomplished when an enzyme in the cell chemically alters the antibiotic so that it no longer binds to its intended target. These enzymes are usually very specific and have evolved over millions of years, along with the antibiotics that they inactivate. Examples of antibiotics that are enzymatically inactivated are penicillin, chloramphenicol, and kanamycin.
Resistance can also occur by modifying or overproducing the target site. The target molecule of the antibiotic is either mutated or chemically modified so that it no long binds the antibiotic. This is possible only if modification of the target does not interfere with normal cellular functions. Target site overproduction is less common but can also produce cells that are resistant to antibiotics.
Lastly, target bypass is a mechanism by which microorganisms can become resistant to antibiotics. In bypass mechanisms, two metabolic pathways or targets exist in the cell and one is not sensitive to the antibiotic. Treatment with the antibiotic selects cells with more reliance on the second, antibiotic-resistant pathway.
Among these mechanisms, the greatest concern for new antibiotic development is target site modification. Enzymatic inactivation and specific transport mechanisms require the existence of a substrate specific enzyme to inactivate or transport the antibiotic out of the cell. Enzymes have evolved over millions of years in response to naturally occurring antibiotics. Since microorganisms cannot spontaneously generate new enzymes, these mechanisms are unlikely to pose a significant threat to the development of new synthetic antibiotics. Target bypass only occurs in cells where redundant metabolic pathways exist. As understanding of the MDR transporters increases, it is increasingly possible to develop drugs that are not transported out of the cell by them. Thus, target site modification poses the greatest risk for the development of antibiotic resistance for new classes of antibiotic and this is particularly true for those antibiotics that target ribosomes. The only new class of antibiotics in thirty-five years, the oxazolidinones, is a recent example of an antibiotic that has been compromised because of target site modification. Resistant strains containing a single mutation in rRNA developed within seven months of its use in the clinical settings.